In the current information age, information technology (IT) tools play a significant role in our daily activities, and there are often discussions of the desirableness of a paperless society. However, notwithstanding such discussions, there remains a need by users of computers and other information terminals (that is, any of the various conventional devices which may have a need to print on demand, such as personal computers, notebook computers, workstations, other types of computers, kiosks, PDAs, other information appliances, etc.) for printing functionality. Therefore, output devices having printing or plotting functionality, such as printers, copiers, multi-function peripheral (MFP) devices, etc., continue to play a significant role at home, at work and even elsewhere.
More recently, such output devices are configured for device administrators and/or vendors to monitor settings, parameters and counters internal to the device. However, as such output devices become a more integral part of the work environment, maintenance of such equipment remains a challenge and there is a continuing need to improve equipment design and configuration to optimize equipment durability and on-line time.
There remains a need for an improved approach to detect user actions and environmental impacts on output devices, and utilize such information to improve maintenance and functioning of the devices, and to determine and address issues that affect proper functioning of the devices.